For National Cholesterol Education Month, we're breaking down LDL, HDL, and triglycerides—and looking at everyday foods and eating patterns that can support both cholesterol and metabolic health.
September is National Cholesterol Education Month, which makes this a good time to talk about something that can feel surprisingly confusing:
What are we actually supposed to eat when we're thinking about cholesterol?
You've probably heard advice to avoid eggs, cut out fat, eat oatmeal, stop eating shrimp, take fish oil, or simply “eat healthier.”
That's a lot of information—and not all of it tells us what to put on the plate tonight.
So instead of creating another list of foods you're supposedly never allowed to eat, let's look at what cholesterol actually is, why it matters, how it relates to insulin resistance, and some practical ways to build meals that support cardiovascular health.
First: What Is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol itself isn't automatically a bad thing.
It's a waxy substance your body needs for important functions. The confusion often comes from the different particles that transport cholesterol through your bloodstream.
You've probably heard about LDL and HDL cholesterol, along with triglycerides.
Here's the simplified version.
LDL Cholesterol
LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein and is commonly called “bad” cholesterol.
When LDL cholesterol is too high, it can contribute to plaque accumulating inside arteries. Over time, that can narrow the arteries and increase the risk of cardiovascular problems such as heart attack and stroke.
HDL Cholesterol
HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein and is often called “good” cholesterol.
HDL helps transport cholesterol back toward the liver. But HDL doesn't simply cancel out LDL, which is one reason cholesterol health is more complicated than trying to make one number high and another low.
Triglycerides
Triglycerides aren't cholesterol. They're another type of fat found in your blood and are generally included on a standard lipid panel.
Elevated triglycerides—particularly when combined with high LDL or low HDL—can be another marker of increased cardiovascular risk.
What Does Cholesterol Have to Do With Insulin Resistance?
Quite a bit.
Insulin resistance is associated with unhealthy changes in blood lipids, and these changes can begin even before someone develops type 2 diabetes. The American Heart Association notes that diabetes commonly occurs alongside a pattern involving higher triglycerides and LDL and lower HDL.
That means blood glucose and cholesterol aren't necessarily two completely separate conversations.
And here's something I find particularly useful:
Many of the eating patterns that support cardiovascular health overlap with the ones we've already been talking about for insulin resistance.
The American Heart Association's updated 2026 dietary guidance emphasizes vegetables and fruits, mostly whole grains, healthy protein sources, unsaturated fats in place of saturated fats, fewer heavily processed foods, and limiting added sugars and excess sodium.
Sound familiar?
That's because we don't necessarily need one “cholesterol diet,” another “insulin resistance diet,” and a third way of eating for general health.
We can build meals with several goals in mind.
So, What Should We Put on the Plate?
Instead of searching for one magical cholesterol-lowering ingredient, let's look at a few categories we can add more often.
1. Foods Rich in Soluble Fiber
Fiber deserves a special mention here.
Foods naturally rich in fiber—including oatmeal and beans—are among the foods the CDC recommends as part of eating patterns that can help prevent and manage unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Try foods such as:
- Oats and oatmeal
- Barley
- Beans
- Lentils
- Apples
- Citrus fruits
- Vegetables
Notice how many of those foods already appear in Eat Against Resistance recipes?
That's not an accident.
Beans, oats, fruit, and whole grains can bring carbohydrates and valuable nutrients to a meal. We don't have to look at carbohydrates as one giant category.
2. Unsaturated Fats
Eating for heart health doesn't mean trying to eliminate fat.
Current cardiovascular guidance emphasizes replacing sources of saturated fat with sources of unsaturated fat rather than simply trying to make everything fat-free.
Foods that can provide unsaturated fats include:
- Olive oil
- Avocado
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Many types of fish
Think about the difference between adding and restricting here.
Instead of:
“I can't eat fat.”
We can think:
“Where could I use more unsaturated fats in the meals I already enjoy?”
Maybe olive oil becomes your cooking oil for a particular dish. Maybe walnuts get added to oatmeal. Maybe avocado goes into Tuesday's Crunch Bowl.
Small changes count.
3. Beans, Lentils, Nuts & Other Plant Foods
Plant foods can do several jobs on the plate.
Beans and lentils provide fiber, carbohydrates, and plant-based protein. Nuts and seeds can provide unsaturated fats, fiber, and protein.
That doesn't mean everyone needs to become vegetarian.
It means we can make more room for plant foods even when chicken, fish, eggs, or another animal protein is still part of the meal.
For example, our Mediterranean Chicken Hummus Crunch Bowl contains chicken and chickpeas and hummus.
It doesn't have to be one or the other.
4. Fruits & Vegetables
Here's another category that doesn't need to become complicated.
Eat a variety.
The American Heart Association's current guidance emphasizes eating plenty of fruits and vegetables and choosing a wide variety of them.
Different colors, textures, fresh, frozen—there are plenty of ways to get them onto the plate.
And yes, fruit still counts even though fruit contains naturally occurring sugar.
We're looking at the whole food and the whole meal.
What About Saturated Fat?
This is where the conversation about cholesterol has changed over the years.
We used to hear a lot about simply avoiding foods that contained cholesterol.
Today, cardiovascular guidance puts significant emphasis on the overall dietary pattern and on replacing sources of saturated fat with sources of unsaturated fat. The American Heart Association's 2026 guidance specifically notes that dietary cholesterol is no longer a primary cardiovascular-disease risk-reduction target for most people.
Sources of saturated fat can include foods such as higher-fat meats, butter, certain full-fat dairy products, coconut oil, and palm oil.
That doesn't mean:
“You can never eat butter again.”
Instead, consider what happens most often.
Could olive oil replace butter in some recipes?
Could fish occasionally replace a higher-saturated-fat protein?
Could nuts or avocado provide richness in another meal?
We're looking for a pattern—not dietary perfection.
What About Eggs, Shrimp & Foods That Contain Cholesterol?
This deserves its own section because dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol are often treated as though they're exactly the same thing.
They're not.
Foods from animals can contain dietary cholesterol, but the American Heart Association's current dietary guidance says that for most people, dietary cholesterol itself is no longer the primary dietary target for reducing cardiovascular risk.
That doesn't mean dietary cholesterol suddenly doesn't matter to anyone.
Individual responses, overall diet, medical conditions, genetics, and cardiovascular risk all matter.
But it does mean that judging a meal solely by whether it contains eggs or shrimp misses the bigger picture.
Instead, we can ask:
What does the overall eating pattern look like?
And What About Triglycerides?
This is especially relevant for Eat Against Resistance.
Insulin resistance is associated with unhealthy lipid patterns, including elevated triglycerides, and diabetes can affect LDL, HDL, and triglyceride levels together.
Current heart-health guidance emphasizes an overall eating pattern rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and healthy protein sources while limiting excess added sugars and heavily processed foods.
This is another reason I don't want our conversations about insulin resistance to become:
“Carbohydrates are bad.”
Oatmeal and a sugar-sweetened drink both contain carbohydrates.
Nutritionally, however, those aren't interchangeable foods.
Context matters.
Build a Cholesterol-Friendly Plate
You don't need an entirely new grocery list after reading this article.
Start with foods you already eat and look for opportunities to add, pair, or swap.
You might add beans to soup, sprinkle nuts or seeds over oatmeal, cook with olive oil, include fish sometimes, add avocado to a lunch bowl, choose a whole grain you enjoy, or put another vegetable onto the dinner table.
And remember our usual Eat Against Resistance framework:
Protein + fiber-rich carbohydrates + vegetables or fruit + fats that fit the meal
It isn't a rigid formula.
It's simply a useful place to start.
Food Is Only Part of the Cholesterol Picture
This part is important.
Food choices can influence cholesterol, but cholesterol levels aren't determined by food alone.
Genetics, medical conditions, medications, smoking, physical activity, age and other factors can affect cardiovascular risk and cholesterol levels. And sometimes lifestyle changes aren't enough to bring LDL to an appropriate level. Medication may be recommended based on someone's individual risk.
The updated 2026 cholesterol guidelines also emphasize looking beyond a single cholesterol number when assessing cardiovascular risk.
So if your cholesterol results are outside the range your healthcare professional wants for you, this isn't a problem you have to “fix” by finding the perfect breakfast.
Talk with your healthcare team about what your numbers mean for you.
The Takeaway
If you remember only one thing from today's Learn post, make it this:
Eating for healthier cholesterol isn't about finding one miracle food—or creating another list of foods you're forbidden to eat.
It's about the pattern you build over time.
More fiber-rich foods.
More vegetables and fruit.
More beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
Unsaturated fats more often in place of saturated fats.
Protein sources that offer variety.
And meals you actually enjoy enough to keep making.
Those are changes that can fit very comfortably beside the approach we're already taking to insulin resistance.
One meal doesn't define your health. Patterns are built one meal at a time. 💚
Individual nutritional needs and blood-glucose responses vary. Eat Against Resistance provides recipes and general nutrition information and isn't a substitute for individualized medical or professional nutrition advice.
Making insulin resistance easier, one meal at a time. 💚